UMEM Educational Pearls

Category: Toxicology

Title: "Liquid X" or Gamma-Hydroxybutyrate (GHB)

Keywords: Gamma-Hydroxybutyrate, GHB, Liquid X, date rape, overdose (PubMed Search)

Posted: 10/18/2007 by Fermin Barrueto, MD (Updated: 4/24/2024)
Click here to contact Fermin Barrueto, MD

GHB

Sedating and amnestic, has become notorious in chemical submission (date rape)
Very fast onset and rapid resolution though respiratory depression can occur
Difficult to test for with few labs and quickly eliminated through urine
Best chance to catch it is if the patient's first urine void is collected and tested